“Thanks,” he grumbles.
“Where does she think you’re going tomorrow?”
“A car auction in Georgia,” he says.
“And you get back when?”
“Friday.”
I can work with this. “Okay, that means you have the whole weekend. I suggest you butter her up with a really nice, romantic dinner. Take her out, treat her to flowers and some wine. Get her back to… um… where are y’all living?”
“Her place for now,” he admits with a sheepish smile. “Can’t very well bring her to my apartment here at Jameson.”
“Okay, you go back to her place, sit her down, and tell her you’ve been hiding something from her, and you need to come clean.”
“Am I telling her the truth, truth?”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t even know what that means, but yes, you are telling her the absolute truth. Don’t hold a single thing back, including your idiotic reasoning for doing it. But then you also tell her the truth about how you feel about her, and you want to be married to her because you love her.”
“She’ll hate me,” he asserts.
“Then if she does, she’s not meant for you. I’d hope she’d still love you despite you being a dumbass. If she’s as great as you’re always saying she is, then she’s going to be pissed, but she’s going to forgive you.”
“You think so?” he asks hopefully.
I give him what I hope is a confident smile. “Hey… bonus is you actually have a really cool and sexy job. My theory is if she loves you as a car salesman, she’ll love you’re a high-speed security agent.”
Cage laughs, finally straightening in his chair. Confidence filters back in his expression for a moment, but then falters a bit. “All’s well and good as long as we don’t get sent to Colombia.”
“Colombia?” I ask, curious as to what mission might be on the horizon. Kynan hasn’t said anything about it to me yet, which means this must be something newish. I usually help in the planning stages.
“Yeah, some American tourist family was taken hostage by a guerilla group. Ransom is being negotiated, and we’ll go in for the transfer when it’s all arranged. But that could happen tomorrow or two weeks from now. You never know with those nut jobs. At any rate, Kynan just put the final group of us together today. Malik’s going to be joining us, too. I’m glad he’s getting back in the saddle.”
My entire frame locks solid, a jolt of pure fear sizzling through me at the mention of Malik’s name. I know I’ve been feeling generally wary about him and potential future missions, but now that one could be on the immediate horizon, my body is reacting in a way as to tell me that I’m absolutely terrified at the prospect of him being put in danger again.
“Malik’s going?” I ask hesitantly, hoping the quaver of fear in my voice isn’t recognizable.
No such luck. Cage tilts his head, examining me speculatively. “Yeah. I mean… that’s what Malik does for this organization. He’s former Special Forces, so this is right up his alley.”
“Yeah, sure,” I reply, moving around my desk to take a seat before my legs give way.
“I know you and Malik have become close friends lately,” Cage says hesitantly. “But you shouldn’t worry about him.”
“We’re more than friends,” I blurt without having had any real intention to do so.
“More than friends?” he queries with raised eyebrows.
“Lovers,” I clarify, and Cage winces. “What?” I demand.
“Just… bro code,” he mutters with disdain. “That’s wrong.”
“It’s so not wrong, you jackass who is lying to his wife,” I snarl. “We have a connection, and it’s deep and built upon something we both share and something you would never understand. Don’t ever diminish what we have as something as mundane as a violation of bro code. And, for your information, Malik has been hesitant to take this farther with me for exactly that reason, so I’d appreciate you not ever saying anything about it to him because the last thing I need—”
“Okay,” Cage exclaims, coming up out of his chair to cut me off. “I get it. You two are deeply involved, and bro code isn’t a consideration at all.”
“I’m not kidding, Cage,” I warn. “He’s important to me, and I am to him. No one here had better—”
He cuts me off again, holding up a hand. “I got the message loud and clear. I’ll crack skulls on anyone who dares to invoke bro code. Got it.”
“Thank you,” I reply stiffly.
“Wow,” Cage says, sinking back down into the chair but in a relaxed way, his problems momentarily forgotten. “You have it bad for him, don’t you?”
I shoot him a pointed look. “You have no idea. And now I’m stuck with all these feelings of worry about him going on a mission.”
“But it’s his job,” Cage points out carefully.
“Yes, I know that,” I snap. “And well, when Jimmy went to Syria and I would say to myself, ‘It’s just his job,’ I don’t think I really thought anything bad could happen. But now I know it can and did, and that changes things. I’m now wondering if I can handle being with a man whose job is to face death on a routine basis.”